evasive wrote:Where did you find the information about the retail Asus board ROM name?.

Quite easy, I had before one of the retail asus boards, same model, so I still have the user manual and drivers CD and in the root directory of the drivers CD there is a P5S800VM.ROM file. in the manual when they explain how the EZ Flash works there is an example screen where U can read:

Reading file "P5S800VM.ROM". Completed
Start flashing...

so, I put 1 + 1 together

I´m trying to get the user manual from the NEC site to see if they have somethig like this, but I can´t download from FTP servers

thanks again

SAM

"I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college"
-Wrapped Around Your Fingers-
-The Police-

A BIOS file name is specific to the BIOS issue of the intended motherboard. But the file name of the 'new' BIOS program may not be the same. Revisions and changes dictate that result.. but the original program ID is still the same. In simpler words, the file name provided will be related to the current revision.. but after installation, the original BIOS string will be retained.. only the date may be different.
With most BIOS update programs, the required files are zipped into a smaller package.. for ease of transfer. An auto-extract feature (or manual operation) will unzip those files, for copying to a floppy disk or flash memory.
Newer motherboard designs may not have a floppy drive provision, so flash memory access would be the only way. But with older motherboard designs, a floppy disk is default. But the format for the floppy disk must be in FAT 12 format, otherwise the BIOS program cannot read the data!
However, with either case, you need a "boot path" for the flash process to begin!
It is prudent to save the old BIOS program to the update media.. just in case you need to "unflash" the system! But don't use the same file name as the new program. Use a tag name such as "old" or "bak" instead of "rom" or however the new file is named!!!

I understood that but my problem is that if the flashing process go wrong I have to go back to the original bios and as far as I know the oonly way of do that in this mobo is trough EZ flash or the CrashFree BIOS 2 utility, and both of them looks for a .ROM file with an specific name (P5S800VM.ROM in the ASUS retailed model)

what I need to know is the filename of the .ROM file that EZ flash and CrashFree applications look for in my case, because my mobo is a P5S800VM/S sold as OEM by NEC

my best regards

SAM

"I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college"
-Wrapped Around Your Fingers-
-The Police-

Definition: Tagname: The last three characters of a file name, following a period or dot. This tagname allows associated files or programming to access it properly. While there may be several program files with the same first naming, and the same date/size, the tagname at the end denotes its association of use.
If, as in your case, the BIOS program is named "P5S800VM.ROM", then copy the original program as the same name, but use "old" or "bak" or other tagname to keep them separate. If in the future you need to revert to the original BIOS program, simply rename the 'new' file as "NEW" or some odd tagname that will not be recognized, then rename the old program as the "P5S800VM.ROM" entity. The flash utility should not have a problem.
Of course, wait at least two minutes after the process, to ensure a complete write, and if the system does not auto-reboot, then do so manually. The next step is to ensure that the CMOS is cleared to default. Then do the BIOS setup associations.
Some BIOS versions have a backup ROM file, as a "crash-free" design. The owner's manual would detail steps to utilize this feature.

my board is P5S800VM /S a variant of the ASUS retail one OEMed by NEC, bios ARE incompatibles, and the name of bios file are different.

the file name of the new bios that I want to flash is NEC0216.ROM, that is not a problem because using the AFUDOS utility U can flash the bios with a .ROM file with any name.

BUT if the flashing process go wrong the only way to recover to the original bios is having it in the Floppy or CD with the ORIGINAL file name, the one with the OEM programmed the EZ flash and the Crash Free Utilities to search for in the CD.

So I have to rename my backed up bios with the EXACT file name that the utilities are expecting, and I have no clue on what the file name is.

thanks again,

SAM

"I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college"
-Wrapped Around Your Fingers-
-The Police-

The process does sound a bit confusing.. for those who have not done many BIOS updates. Yes, a BIOS program must match the motherboard model and type exactly, or there will be no end to problems.
The flash utility program will look for the specific "NEC0216.ROM" file to use for a BIOS update.
Following the suggestion I made, copying the original BIOS program as the same name, but use "NEC0216.OLD" instead of the provided file tagname will prevent an overwrite.
If the need comes to revert to the older BIOS program, simply change the tagname of the "NEC0216.ROM" file to "NEC0216.NEW" and then change the old program file to "NEC0216.ROM" and flash away with no likely problem. But if the process balks, noting the flash program file is older than what is present, it may be necessary to manually do the process. Read the batch file of the program to note arguments as a manual process.
Should be a help file associated with the utility.
You could also save a copy of the batch file as *.bak instead of *.bat, and then edit the original batch file to reflect the "NEC0216.OLD" file as the target. No need to backup/copy the program now installed, as it already exists.